I Could Write a Book
by The Wheatmeister
Summary: It's movie night and Mattie has some tricks up her sleeve. Set after "How Far."


Title: I Could Write a Book  
  
Author: Stephanie Wheatley(whtmstr13@hotmail.com)  
  
Summary: This is a continuation of "How Far." You probably ought to read that first. To be honest, I can't believe no one has capitalized on this idea before. I find "When Harry Met Sally" a wonderful parallel to our favorite couple, not to mention a road I've walked down several times myself, though not with the success of Meg Ryan and Billy Crystal. -sigh- Anyhow, it's movie night and Mattie has some tricks up her sleeve.  
  
Spoilers: The Mattie story arc specifically, and everything else is also fair game. And a good working knowledge of "When Harry Met Sally" is also a good thing.  
  
Rating: PG-13...A discussion ensues about a certain scene in the movie, so just to be on the safe side...  
  
Disclaimers: I own neither the characters from JAG, the movie "When Harry Met Sally," nor the song "I Could Write a Book." All I own is a recently issued diploma from Oklahoma State University.  
  
Feedback: If you would be so kind.  
  
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If they asked me I could write a book  
  
About the way you walk and whisper and look  
  
I could write the preface on how we met  
  
So the world would never forget  
  
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1600 EST  
  
JAG Headquarters  
  
"Hey, partner," Harm said, sticking his head in Sarah Mackenzie's office. "Got dinner plans tonight?"  
  
"No," she replied, looking up from the file she had been engrossed in and flashing him a brief smile. "Why?"  
  
"Mattie wants a movie night. She's in charge of the movie, I'm supposed to get the pizza and invite you."  
  
"Well, as long as there's a meat lover's pizza in those plans, you can count me in, sailor."  
  
Making a face at the thought of so much meat, Harm said, "Sure thing, marine. 1900 sound good?"  
  
"Yep. See ya then."  
  
"Great," he said.  
  
Mac smiled as she watched him walk away. Since their Christmas Eve discussion, she and Harm had been working to regain each other's trust and rebuild their friendship. She had also been getting to know Mattie, and Harm was somewhat correct in that Mac definitely saw a lot of herself in the girl. However, as she had told Harm that night, almost 2 months before, had she ever been nearly as put together as Mattie Grace at 14, her life may have taken a completely different course. Nevertheless, Mac was more at peace with herself and with her relationship with Harm than she had been in a very long time. Allowing herself one more smile, she then turned her attention back to her work, occasionally glancing at the clock to see how much time was left till her evening with two of her favorite people.  
  
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1858 EST  
  
Harm's Apartment  
  
"Hey, Ninja Girl," Harm said, greeting her with a smile as he let her in.  
  
"Hi, Mac."  
  
"Hey, Mattie. How was school today?"  
  
"Okay, I guess. I'm still having trouble adjusting to being a normal kid again."  
  
"Give it some time, kiddo," Mac said, giving her shoulder an affectionate squeeze. "You'll get there." Turning to Harm, she said, "Now where's that meat lover's pizza you promised me, Flyboy?"  
  
Laughing, he said, "It's waiting for you in the kitchen. Come on, Mattie. It's dinner time."  
  
"Great! Mac, you better share that meat lover's."  
  
After they had eaten dinner, the three of them settled into Harm's big, leather sectional. "So, Mattie, what movie do you have in mind for us tonight?"  
  
She got up and ran into the bedroom, returning with a worn cassette sleeve containing her mother's favorite movie. "When Harry Met Sally?" Harm asked. "Mattie, that's an 'R' rated movie. I don't think you should be watching it."  
  
"Harm, this was my mom's favorite movie. My dad took her to see it on their first night out after she had me. We would watch it when she and Dad were having troubles. She said it reminded her of the good times."  
  
"Harm, it's okay," Mac said. "There's nothing in this movie she hasn't probably seen or heard in the hangar. Besides, it has sentimental value."  
  
"Maybe you're right, Mac," Harm conceded, causing Mattie to send her a look of gratitude. "Go ahead and put it on, Mattie. But don't expect this to happen too often."  
  
Kissing him on the cheek, Mattie said, "Thanks, Harm," before turning to set up the TV she had insisted Harm buy. Once she had fast forwarded through the previews, she settled again into the couch, curling up at one end and covering herself with her favorite old quilt. Harm and Mac sat at the other end, Harm's arm around Mac's shoulders.  
  
As the movie started, Mattie turned to them with a mischievous twinkle in her eye. "Hey, did you guys have hair like that in the '70s?"  
  
Harm laughed. "Not quite. It was a little shaggy, but I wasn't very old and my mom wouldn't let me grow it very long."  
  
Mac looked far more somber than Harm. "I had my hair cut really short when I was a kid. My dad came home drunk one night and got mad because he tripped over a shoe he thought belonged to me. My hair was still long and I had it pulled back in a ponytail. He grabbed it and yanked me to him and started screaming at me. The next morning, my mom took me to the hairdresser and told her to cut it as short as she could and me still look like a girl."  
  
"I'm sorry, Mac," Mattie said forlornly. "I didn't mean to make you sad."  
  
"You didn't know, Mattie. It's okay." Mac sounded sincere, but even as she said this, she pulled her feet up underneath her and leaned into Harm, putting her arm around his chest as if to draw on his strength. For his part, Harm held her close to him, kissing the top of her head gently. They continued watching the movie in silence until the discussion about the possibility of men and women just being friends came up for the first time. Mattie turned to her guardian and his best friend and asked, "So is it true?"  
  
"What?" Harm asked. "That men and women can never just be friends because physical attraction changes things? It can be." Even as he said this, his mind was taking him back to Christmas Eve and Mac saying, 'We've never just been friends. There's always been more there.' Looking down at her looking up at him with a knowing smile, he knew she was thinking about the same thing.  
  
"Sure, it can," Mac agreed, tearing her eyes away from Harm's. "I'm just friends with Sturgis."  
  
"What about the two of you? Are you just friends or is there something deeper?" Mattie began to laugh hysterically as she watched them both turn red and stumble over their words trying to formulate an answer. "Yeah," she said, with a smug grin on her face. "That's what I thought."  
  
Again everyone turned their attention back to the movie for quite awhile. Until the diner scene. Mattie looked at Mac and with the innocence of a child said, "Do women really do that? Fake it, I mean."  
  
This time Harm laughed as Mac turned several, increasingly brighter shades of red. "Yes, do tell, marine."  
  
Collecting herself, Mac turned to Harm and retorted, "Well, most women have done it, and all men think it's never happened to them. You do the math."  
  
"Ouch! She got you there, Harm," Mattie exclaimed with glee. She liked Mac and wanted her and Harm to get together. That had, in fact, been her ulterior motive. It was true that this was her mother's favorite movie, but it also reminded her a lot of Harm and Mac. She quickly became engrossed in the movie again, and didn't pay attention to Harm. He bent his head and put his lips to Mac's ear. "You'd never fake it with me, jarhead. That's a promise."  
  
Grinning, she murmured, "Don't make a promise you can't keep, flyboy."  
  
"I haven't yet."  
  
Mac shivered in anticipation at the thought, even though they were currently not to the place where that promise could be...explored. The discussion of where their relationship was and where it was headed had been had several times and both Harm and she had agreed that they were headed in the right direction, but nowhere near ready to actually begin a relationship. However, those around them noticed that the stress seemed to have diminished from their relationship, and their friendly banter was back, if with a more flirtatious edge to it. Shaking herself from her thoughts, Mac whispered, "I'm holding you to that, sailor."   
  
She felt his chest shake with a quiet laugh. "Just watch the movie, jarhead."  
  
They watched the rest of the movie in silence, noticing toward the end that Mattie had fallen asleep. As the credits rolled, Harm walked Mac to his door. "Thanks for coming tonight, Mac. It was fun."  
  
"I had a good time, too. I'll see you at the office tomorrow."  
  
"You bet," he said, flashing his trademark grin. He gave her a quick kiss on the cheek before she walked out the door. As he watched her walk away, he couldn't help but think that things were definitely looking up for he and Mac. Walking back into his apartment to wake Mattie and put her to bed, he found himself singing one of the songs from the movie. "And the simple secret of the plot/Is just to tell them that I love you a lot./Then the world discovers as my book ends/How to make two lovers of friends."  
  
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Author's Notes: Think long and hard about something for a minute. What story did I begin several years ago and never quite get around to finishing? I've gotten several e-mails about it with people wondering when it would be resurrected. Well, have no fear, because I'm about to start working on it again, and revise it so it fits this lovely little timeline I've constructed, because I like it better than what TPTB are doing right now. If you know what it is, good for you. If not, you'll find out. I've got one more gap-filler before I get to it, but it should get rolling before Christmas. Hope I've piqued everyone's curiosity sufficiently. Ciao... 


End file.
